AD disarray

[06panther10]

We don't have an SID right now. There's no media guide. I'm guessing the game notes will be comically bad and riddled with errors. Plus, a week one Farley depth chart is usually a comical farce.

Just wanted to start a separate thread…

Anybody know what is going on within the AD right now, or are we just supposed to pretend these departures 2 weeks before the fall season’s start are business usual??

[UNIAlum95]

The Christianson departure was not unexpected. He has goals to be an AD and needed the experience this position would provide. No thoughts on the other departures or the overall health of the department as a whole.

[BCPanther]

The fact that Nathan, who was the clear public facing number two, didn't think he could get an AD job directly from here speaks volumes about where we're at as a department. He actually took a bit of a demotion to go to Brookings though I'd imagine the money is better.

Jerek, who by all accounts is a really nice guy, was in over his head from the beginning. He was hired when fully admitting he didn't like basketball and was more worried about digital content than doing the work of an SID. It got to the point in the last couple of seasons where Rima was sharing his notes with the TV people in order to prepare them because the information they were getting from the department was so inconsistent and unreliable. Jerek now has a chance to be closer to home, he's from Montana, and he just gets to do the digital side of things with no SID responsibilities for a major sport.

I have had concerns about turnover in the department and general competence for a while now and I haven't been shy about sharing them here. I know we've got people in the department that are doing their absolute best and I know they have big dreams (Dome Reno, Practive Facility, etc) but it just gives you real pause when what should be the nuts and bolts of what an athletic department does aren't consistently done well if they're done at all. Things like game notes, media guides and website updates should be item one that gets checked off the list on a daily basis and they aren't getting done. No amount of staff turnover should impact that.

Heading into our first 'normal' season in 2 years when fan engagement and excitement should be sky high, we've gotten very little from the department. No hype videos, no progress updates, nothing to engage the fan. Other schools make a big deal of assigning numbers in football and basketball complete with gifs and awesome social media, we got a bunch of guys added to the football roster, head shots weeks later and a basketball roster that hasn't even had the new freshmen added and they've been in school since the first of June.

I've said it a hundred times. It's hard to be a UNI fan in a small state with two P5 programs 90 minutes from our front door. The goal of the department should be to make it easier to be a UNI fan and, somehow, they continue to make it harder. We're leaking attendance again, our crowds are skewing older again, our fundraising continues to be centered on getting the same people to increase what they're giving rather than going out and finding new donors. It's not healthy and it needs to change before true apathy sets in and we lose another generation just like we did from 95-05.

[Panther AC]

Nathan was very open that his goal is to be a D1 athletic director. He wasn't going directly from his UNI position to a D1 program without direct experience overseeing a number of sports, which was not available currently at UNI, but was an open position at SDSU. No question he will be missed but the moving to a different job and new experience is very common place for aggressive young people in athletic administration.

[Blue42]

Not every departure suggests disarray.

People move on to other jobs for many reasons. Professional development and advancement. Or returning to the area they're from when they're raising a family.

Funny how quickly some want to paint the most negative picture possible.

We'll be ok.

[SteinPizza]

Not every departure suggests disarray.

People move on to other jobs for many reasons. Professional development and advancement. Or returning to the area they're from when they're raising a family.

Funny how quickly some want to paint the most negative picture possible.

We'll be ok.

Agreed. People leave jobs for their own reasons and self interest. That doesn’t necessarily mean the UNI AD is a bad place to work.

[vbfan19]

But going into football/volleyball/soccer season without an SID (or whatever they call them these days) is not ideal.

[Blue42]

But going into football/volleyball/soccer season without an SID (or whatever they call them these days) is not ideal.

Nope. The timing isn't good for us. But it happens when it happens and you react as quickly as you can to get the seat filled with the right person.

[UNIAlum95]

Nathan was very open that his goal is to be a D1 athletic director. He wasn't going directly from his UNI position to a D1 program without direct experience overseeing a number of sports, which was not available currently at UNI, but was an open position at SDSU. No question he will be missed but the moving to a different job and new experience is very common place for aggressive young people in athletic administration.

Thanks for adding this. It was exactly my point with his departure.

[DomeIsHome]

The SID/Communications side of things at UNI has been in disarray for years. There's little debate about that. I don't follow men's basketball as close as I should, but even with that squad there are holes that are getting bigger and bigger.

It is *literally* the week of the first game and UNIPanthers.com has a story up from August 27th, August 2nd, July 27th, July 21st, July 12, July 6th, and June 10th.

No media guide, no notes (yet, I assume these will get put up sometime this week, but who knows), nothing from media day with Farley or from any of the players, no initial two-deeps, no new photos of players. There are two more recent updates from Panther Sports Talk down below, which is great!

It is hard to get excited about an upcoming season when the school itself does not seem to be excited.

Here's what I'm not saying: that UNI is a bad place to work and that the people there aren't great. What I'm saying is that these things are the very basics of what a Division I school should be doing, and UNI is whiffing on them.

Everybody knows who I am, I am not trying to be a random person behind a keyboard. I have said this stuff to UNI personnel over the years. I have told UNI to hire me - I would take an SID job in about 8 seconds.

So hey, if UNI athletics folks get on here, hit me up. Until then, I'll just keep doing what I do.

[DomeIsHome]

Here's another thing I'm not saying before everybody jumps on me: that the people in the AD (or the Communications dept.) aren't doing the best they can with what they have. They are. They need help, they need more people, they need more resources. There are about 100 regular excuses that are thrown out there.

It's time for no more excuses. UNI's never going to have enough money, there's never enough time, there's never enough resources. Time to get innovative, time to work as a team, time to get creative, time to work hard.

[BCPanther]

Here's another thing I'm not saying before everybody jumps on me: that the people in the AD (or the Communications dept.) aren't doing the best they can with what they have. They are. They need help, they need more people, they need more resources. There are about 100 regular excuses that are thrown out there.

It's time for no more excuses. UNI's never going to have enough money, there's never enough time, there's never enough resources. Time to get innovative, time to work as a team, time to get creative, time to work hard.

This right here. The 'we do more with less' stuff has kind of become a crutch. UNI fans are totally realistic when we look at budget but that doesn't mean that it should be harder to be a UNI fan.

[DecadePanther]

Here's my .02

The Athletics SID office specifically has been in free-fall for awhile now. Some of this is just simply being a mid-major with budget restrictions, but some pretty bad decisions have been a cause for most of it. The SID office has always been run by an organized SID, a good assistant SID, and then student assistants. The student assistants used to be paid but now are unpaid internships. The pay was minimal, but it was still something. Without that you're not seeing students line up to take those jobs where they have to work on game nights and weekends and even some holiday breaks.

One of the worst mistakes for this athletic department was letting Jean Berger make personnel decisions. Sure, she accomplished some great things, but she was easily the most biased person within that entire department and Troy didn't care enough to check her as he had bigger fish to fry. Letting Wes Offerman go to NDSU when he was all-but-hired as the assistant SID next to Colin was an absolutely brutal whiff and it was done for some extremely selfish reasons. Anyone who is familiar with Wes and his work know that he is one of the best in the business. He and Colin were superstars and never let things slip, ever. Jordie was hired instead, and she was good, but everyone knew she was here for a couple years max and then was moving on. Wes would still likely be in that office had that decision not been made. This is just one example of the many people she pushed out the door. Her leaving was a blessing for this department. I know people had it out for Troy, and for good reason, but she was Troy's Robin.

Jerek was/is a great guy, but didn't have much basketball experience. He was in his first real D1 job and was in a bit over his head, but usually did a pretty good job. He was really focused on increasing the digital presence and did a fantastic job in that regard. I think with another year or two things would have come together, but I certainly can't blame him for going back out West to be closer to his family (similar reasons for why Colin left). He also did a great job getting the student assistants back involved. Nick is now the assistant SID and #1 in charge until a hire is made, we'll see how he does with it. Both were put into tough spots as their first D1 positions with our two primary sports. With little to no experience I'd say both stepped up as best as they could but improvements can certainly be made.

The real need is to bring back someone like Josh Lehman or Colin McDonough. Someone who is organized and can give the department the attention it so desperately needs. The issue is they need to pay someone like that, and you're not going to get those guys without putting some money up for them. I'd love to see them set aside an actual budget for the SID office to not only bring in two really good SID's who have experience, but also bring back Austin Hansen. You've seen the work he's done with Loyola, it's phenomenal. He's a Cedar Falls native who's extremely talented and loves UNI, and we let him walk. Video content drives the fan base - see any hype video or highlight video. There's a reason they're played before games and right as season tickets become available. With a strong digital presence I think this department could excel, but they've got to pay someone to do it. There's a lot of places that money could come from to get it done, but certain individuals may not like it and that's the main hold-up. Until that's fixed I believe we'll be in this limbo.

Maybe we'll get lucky and hire a newcomer who can do it all, but those are few and far between nowadays and are usually snatched up pretty quickly by bigger schools. UNI isn't a destination job, but putting some actual money towards that department could make it one. And everyone would benefit from that.

[Born-a-Panther]

Here's my .02

The Athletics SID office specifically has been in free-fall for awhile now. Some of this is just simply being a mid-major with budget restrictions, but some pretty bad decisions have been a cause for most of it. The SID office has always been run by an organized SID, a good assistant SID, and then student assistants. The student assistants used to be paid but now are unpaid internships. The pay was minimal, but it was still something. Without that you're not seeing students line up to take those jobs where they have to work on game nights and weekends and even some holiday breaks.

One of the worst mistakes for this athletic department was letting Jean Berger make personnel decisions. Sure, she accomplished some great things, but she was easily the most biased person within that entire department and Troy didn't care enough to check her as he had bigger fish to fry. Letting Wes Offerman go to NDSU when he was all-but-hired as the assistant SID next to Colin was an absolutely brutal whiff and it was done for some extremely selfish reasons. Anyone who is familiar with Wes and his work know that he is one of the best in the business. He and Colin were superstars and never let things slip, ever. Jordie was hired instead, and she was good, but everyone knew she was here for a couple years max and then was moving on. Wes would still likely be in that office had that decision not been made. This is just one example of the many people she pushed out the door. Her leaving was a blessing for this department. I know people had it out for Troy, and for good reason, but she was Troy's Robin.

Jerek was/is a great guy, but didn't have much basketball experience. He was in his first real D1 job and was in a bit over his head, but usually did a pretty good job. He was really focused on increasing the digital presence and did a fantastic job in that regard. I think with another year or two things would have come together, but I certainly can't blame him for going back out West to be closer to his family (similar reasons for why Colin left). He also did a great job getting the student assistants back involved. Nick is now the assistant SID and #1 in charge until a hire is made, we'll see how he does with it. Both were put into tough spots as their first D1 positions with our two primary sports. With little to no experience I'd say both stepped up as best as they could but improvements can certainly be made.

The real need is to bring back someone like Josh Lehman or Colin McDonough. Someone who is organized and can give the department the attention it so desperately needs. The issue is they need to pay someone like that, and you're not going to get those guys without putting some money up for them. I'd love to see them set aside an actual budget for the SID office to not only bring in two really good SID's who have experience, but also bring back Austin Hansen. You've seen the work he's done with Loyola, it's phenomenal. He's a Cedar Falls native who's extremely talented and loves UNI, and we let him walk. Video content drives the fan base - see any hype video or highlight video. There's a reason they're played before games and right as season tickets become available. With a strong digital presence I think this department could excel, but they've got to pay someone to do it. There's a lot of places that money could come from to get it done, but certain individuals may not like it and that's the main hold-up. Until that's fixed I believe we'll be in this limbo.

Maybe we'll get lucky and hire a newcomer who can do it all, but those are few and far between nowadays and are usually snatched up pretty quickly by bigger schools. UNI isn't a destination job, but putting some actual money towards that department could make it one. And everyone would benefit from that.

Most people know who I am so they can understand why the SID's office is very, very close to my heart. I had not heard that student assistants don't get paid there anymore. This makes me sad. My three years working as a student assistant in the SID's office (before I spent my fourth year in the football office) gave me greater experience than I ever got in the classroom... and I LOVED my job. I also worked incredibly, incredibly hard. During certain times of the year, I was putting in 40 hours as a student worker on top of my classwork. I can't imagine being able to put that time in without making money from it. Had I not grown up seeing the tole that an SID's job could take on family life, I would have wanted to make a career of it myself. There's no job like it. And the students do so much in that office, but they aren't just there to work, they are there to learn, too. So whoever leads them has to also be a teacher. That was a part of the role my mom took very, very seriously.

And yes, we need Austin Hansen. But we need to be able to afford him. He's incredible at what he does, and is the missing piece.

[DomeIsHome]

And not to pile on, but I got an email tonight from UNI Football with the subject, "Single Game Tickets On Sale Now!"

Opened it up and it's about volleyball tickets.

Everybody needs help.